Introducing The TRIWA Humanium Metal Initiative Watch

TRIWA is a line of affordably priced watches that are designed in Sweden. And indeed, they have that very clean, very Scandanavian look that tends to do well in the sub-$500 price segment. Who among us hasn't owned a Skagen? What we have here is a watch that TRIWA recently launched on Kickstarter and is being made in partnership with the Humanium Metal Initiative. Humanium Metal is a material forged in a foundry from confiscated illegal firearms "in El Salvador and elsewhere." The basic idea is that when a person buys a product made from Humanium Metal, he or she is incentivizing the transformation of illegal firearms into harmless and useful products.

The watch you see here features a case made made from Humanium, which TRIWA purchases as a raw material from the nonprofit IM Swedish Development Partner, which obtains and melts down the illegal firearms, and which makes the metal available to a range of partners for manufacturing purposes. (TRIWA says the resulting alloy is "the equivalent of 316L stainless steel." The watch is available in two sizes, 34mm and 39mm, each of which comes with the option for a white or a metallic grey dial. There are also a bevy of strap options.

Initial Thoughts

The TRIWA Humanium Metal Initiative Watch is not bad looking timepiece. A couple of the things I noticed right away were the domed sapphire crystals and the Panerai-esque punched-out numerals and hour markers. Across the board, these watches use Japanese quartz movements from Miyota. There are a lot of strap choices, including recycled canvas and organically tanned leather. TRIWA says that 15% of sales of the watch will go back to further the work of the IM Swedish Development Partner, a nonprofit that that has existed since 1938. During the Kickstarter launch period, which runs through 3 August 2018, the price of the watches is $229, after which the price will increase to $299.